A urinal flange device is commonly used to couple a urinal to a drainpipe that extends through a wall, such as a vertical wall, to receive and carry off effluent to a sewer. An example of a urinal flange device 10 known in the prior art is shown in FIG. 1. The urinal flange device 10 may be made of a suitable plastic, such as corrosion resistant PVC. The urinal flange device 10 includes a cylindrical hub or tube 12, an annular flange 14 integrally attached to, extending about and radially outward from a front end portion 12A of the tube 12, and a pair of wings 16 integrally attached to opposite sides of the annular flange 14 and extending outward in opposite directions therefrom. Each wing 16 has a row of side-by-side apertures 18 formed therethrough. The selected ones of the apertures 18 of the wings 16 receive and generally position urinal mounting bolts (the same as the ones shown in FIG. 6 in association with the urinal coupling assembly of the invention) so that they are deployed to protrude forwardly of the wings 16 and may extend through matching apertures in the urinal 19 in order to mount and fasten the urinal 19 against the wall 20, typically a vertical wall.
A tubular end portion 22 of a drainpipe (not shown) extends through, and at a front edge portion 22A thereof is open and protrudes from, a passage 24 through the wall 20. The drainpipe tubular end portion 22 extends from a back side 20A of the wall 20 to a front side 20B thereof. A tubular main body 12B of the tube 12 of the urinal flange device 10, which extends rearwardly from the annular flange 14 to a rear end portion 12C of the tube 12, inserts through the open front edge portion end 22A of the drainpipe tubular end portion 22 and into the interior 22B thereof where the tube 12 and the drainpipe tubular end portion 22 are glued together. An annular gasket (not shown) is typically deployed between a lower portion of the urinal and a front face 14A of the annular flange 14 on the tube 12 of the urinal flange device 10, about a protruding front edge 12D of the tubular main body 12B so as to provide a seal therebetween.
All too often, such as during installation of a urinal, there occurs an over-tightening of the urinal mounting bolts, and also the possibility a misalignment of the apertures of the urinal with the apertures of the wings 16 of the urinal flange device 10 which receive the urinal mounting bolts. These occurrences may result in the distortion or disfigurement of the urinal flange device wings 16, which over time may lead to their break off so as to adversely affect the mounting of the urinal to the wall, thus requiring repair steps to be taken. The necessary repair steps typically require the removal of the urinal from the wall and portions of the wall cut open to gain access to the broken urinal flange device 10 in order to remove and replace it.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for an innovation that will provide a way to prevent the aforementioned occurrences from arising.